Alfred had taught himself Latin by translating: there were few vocabularies, and only the crabbed grammar of old Priscian. Shaking himself free from the trammels we have enumerated, he invited learned men from abroad, such as his biographer, Asser, and together they attempted a complete version of the Bible. Some writers suppose the project was nearly completed, others, that it was interrupted by his early death. Still, translations were multiplied of the sacred writings, and the rubrics show that they were read, as described in the text, upon the Sundays and festivals. From that time down to the days of Wickliffe, England can boast of such versions of the sacred Word as can hardly be paralleled in Europe. The other works we have mentioned were also translated by or for Alfred. “The Chronicle of Orosius,” a history of the world by a Spaniard of Seville; “The History of the Venerable Bede;” “The Consolations of Philosophy,” by Boethius; “Narratives from Ancient Mythology;” “The Confessions of St. Augustine;” “The Pastoral Instructions of St. Gregory;” and his “Dialogue,” form portions of the works of this greatest of kings, and true father of his people. His “Apologues,” imitated from Æsop, are unfortunately lost. ix The Court of Edred. All the early chroniclers appear to take a similar view of the character and court of Edred. William of Malmesbury says—“The king devoted his life to God, and to St. Dunstan, by whose admonition he bore with patience his frequent bodily pains, prolonged his prayers, and made his palace altogether the school of virtue.” But although pious, he was by no means wanting in manly energy, as was shown by his vigorous and successful campaign in Northumbria, on the occasion of the attempt to set Eric, son of Harold, on the throne of Northumbria. The angelic apparition to St. Dunstan, mentioned in chapter VII, is told by nearly all the early historians, but with varying details. According to many, it occurred while Dunstan was hastening to the aid of Edred. The exigencies of the tale required a slightly different treatment of the legend. x Confession in the Anglo-Saxon Church.